title: Mortality and risk indicators for death during five years after acute myocardial infarction among patients with and without ST elevation on admission electrocardiogram.
abstract: We related observations in the electrocardiogram (ECG) on admission to hospital among consecutive patients hospitalized in one single hospital with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and related the prognosis during the following 5 years to these observations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 863 patients, 63% had ECG signs of myocardial ischemia, but only 41% had ST elevation on ED admission. Patients with ST elevation had a 5-year mortality of 44% as compared with 58% in patients without ST elevation (p < 0.001). Patients with the highest mortality were those with a pathologic ECG including signs of previous AMI, bundle branch block and pacemaker ECG, but with no ECG sign of acute ischemia. Patients with the lowest mortality were those with a nonpathologic ECG on admission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among consecutive patients hospitalized with AMI, less than half had ST elevation on admission to hospital. These patients had a lower mortality during 5 years of follow-up than patients without ST elevation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herlitz
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Karlson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bång
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sjölin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis